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﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿Many of my readers are familiar with my spiritual teacher, mentor, and friend Kathryn Harwig. She recently wrote a piece that is a very common-sense, down-to-earth expose on intuition. I liked it so much I asked her permission to reprint it here:﻿

﻿Recently someone asked me, “How do I know if the information I am getting is coming from my intuition or from my own self talk?” This is a very good question, and one that everyone who is serious about being intuitive needs to ask on occasion. It is a challenge to be intuitive about yourself and most of us find that it is far easier to give someone else a psychic reading than to give ourselves good intuitive advice.

Why? Because our own hopes, dreams, worries and fears tend to get in the way of our hearing our inner psychic, at least when we are asking for information for ourselves. Many people solve this dilemma, at least in part, by consulting with other psychics. But, we also want and need to use our intuition to make our own lives better. So, it is necessary, I think, to be able to distinguish the voice of our inner self talk and the quiet voice of our intuitive wisdom.

I attended a talk once where the speaker said that our unconscious mind was unable to hear the word “Not”. Her point was that when we make affirmations such as, “I do NOT want to be fat”, our unconscious mind only hears, “I am fat.” I don’t know if this is true or not, but, upon reflection, I realized that my intuition almost never uses the word “not.”

I will hear, for example, “take this route to work” rather than “do NOT take your usual route”, or, “make this telephone call” rather than, “do NOT call this person.” My “tips for better living” mind, on the other hand, is always telling me what not to do. Thus, when I hear advice about what not to do, I am generally certain it is coming from the part of me that is fearful about something, rather than my intuition.

Another way I differentiate between intuition and self talk is that intuition speaks without emotion. It often “hits” out of the blue with no relationship to what I am doing or even thinking about it. It comes as an emotionless statement in my mind, or a mental picture or even a physical sensation. Seldom though, does it carry a strong emotional charge with it. Even when I see, in my minds eye, something that would normally frighten me, I am able to view it intuitively as if I am watching a movie that doesn’t involve me.

My inner voice though, seems to thrive on emotion. When I think about something and ruminate on it, I tend to feel a lot of emotions. Whether the emotion I feel is excitement, joy, fear or worry is irrelevant. Feeling that type of emotion along with a thought is a clue to me that the thought is not an intuitive message.

Another clue is that intuitive information tends to come without any value judgment attached to it. My intuition gives me messages without any sense of “good” or “bad”, “right” or “wrong.” Sometimes, after getting this information, my conscious mind jumps in, placing judgment on what I have received. But, the actual vision or words or feelings never carry a sense of rightness or wrongness. That is because intuitive information is valueless. It is never right or wrong…good or bad. It simply is.

Not long ago I got an email from some one who had heard me giving intuitive insights to audience members. Her email said, “How do you differentiate between common sense and intuition? When I listened to your intuitive messages, I thought, “this is just common sense advice.”

She made a very good point. As I pondered that I thought, “Where does common sense come from?” We talk about “common sense” as if it is something we can define and understand, but what is it, exactly? I laughed to myself when I realized that common sense is just another way to describe intuition. It is that wiser part of ourself that “just knows things.”

How do you tell what is intuition and what is self talk? I would love to hear from you!

This summer was the summer of weddings for Roger me. Many of Liz’s high school friends as well as her cousin were married over the span of the last four months. As I attended each wedding I secretly wondered if Liz was present … I always felt she was … although an outward sign as proof seemed like too much to ask for.

However, as I sat by the shores of Pelican lake and watched Suzy, Liz’s cousin, marry, I began to ask Liz for a butterfly so that I would know for sure that she was there. This was a joyous wedding, but it also brought home the fact that Liz is gone and we will never get to experience her wedding day. It was bittersweet and I was filled with mixed emotions. I didn’t see any butterflies during the service … I was disappointed, but I reminded myself that you just don’t always get what you ask for. I put it out of my mind and enjoyed the beauty of the day and the fun and joy that the reception held. What happened next was indeed a very pleasant surprise.

Numerous people came to me and asked if I had seen the two butterflies that were flitting around during the ceremony. I was very surprised to learn about this, since I had been asking for just such a thing to happen, and it did … but I just didn’t see it. No matter, it happened and there were several people who saw it and realized the significance.

The last wedding of the summer was that of Tanya and Steve. I was surprised several days later to see a picture of the bride and two of her friends — all close high school friends of Liz posted on Facebook. Just above Nicole’s head was an orb. “Hey Nicole, someone wrote, it looks like you have a ghost above your head.”

I started to laugh – it wasn’t a ghost – it was Liz. Once again, visual proof of her presence on one of the most important days of her friend’s life.

After many months of waiting and anticipation on my part, I’m happy to announce that I have an article in the June edition of THE EDGE – SOUL OF THE CITIES magazine. This is the twin cities premiere metaphysical magazine.

As many of you know, for the past six years, Kathryn Harwig has my teacher, my mentor, and my friend. I would not be where I am today if Kathryn had not come into my life.

So I wasn’t surprised when I read Kathryn’s article – just a few pages beyond mine. They tie in together quite nicely I think and of course this is yet another example of how The Universe works. I was getting impatient and wondering whether my article would ever be published. Now I understand why it happened when it did.

Another lesson for me in trusting that The Universe has it all under control.

We are all born to travel our own path; when we find the right one, it feels like we have come home. What works for me may not necessarily work for you and vice versa. Understanding this removes judgment from the equation. How can we judge another’s destiny? The answer, of course, is that we cannot. All we can do is focus on our own journey.

Intention springs from our deepest desires, and those desires are shaped by karma. You and I don’t have the same karma; therefore we dont have exactly the same desires. We have loved different people, knelt at different graves, prayed at different altars. The specifics of desire are unique to each of us.

Yet if you follow the chain of desire, in the end we are all the same. We want to be happy. We want to be fulfilled. We want meaning and purpose in our lives. We want a sense of connection with God or spirit. We want other people to respect us and love us. And we want to feel safe. These desires are universal. But the route each of us takes to satisfy them is uniquely our own, based on our individual experiences and memories, or karma. Were all heading for the same destination, but we take different roads. We arrive together, having traveled our different paths.

This is quite a wonderful book. It explains in great detail how and why the universe lives in each of us and works through each of us. This knowledge is the key to realizing our full potential as human and spiritual beings. I highly recommend it!

Click here to buy Sixty Seconds. Click here to ask Phil to add you to his e-mail list for updates on his blog and books.

Reading this book is like spending a few minutes face to face with each of the contributors and listening to their personal stories. Click here to read unsolicited testimonials from readers. Learn more by visiting the official Sixty Seconds website.

Sixty Seconds was one of three finalists in the General Interest/How-To category at the 12th annual Visionary Awards presented by COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources) in Denver on June 27, 2009.

Those of you who know me well, know that my greatest passions are sharing my stories of extraordinary connections to my daughter Liz and fire safety prevention.

I came across a story today that combines them both. It is a wonderful story and for all of you skeptics out there, I hope it will make you stop and think, scratch your head, and wonder … maybe there is more to life than what can be seen?

When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word.
I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn’t flow with the music,
and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.
It’s as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw “G,” I thought of God, followed by “u” and “i.”
“God, ‘u’ and ‘I’ dance.”
God, you, and I dance.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God’s blessings
and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God, as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead
and to guide you through each season of your life.